(b Madrid, 14 Oct 1737; d Madrid, 5 Oct 1793). Spanish painter. His artistic talent showed itself early, and he attended drawing classes given by the painter José Romeo (1701–72). He won the patronage of José de Carvajal y Lancaster, the prime minister of Ferdinand VI, who provided him with a scholarship (1751) to study in Rome with Corrado Giaquinto. Castillo returned with Giaquinto to Madrid in 1753 and continued to work with him there. He also entered the competitions arranged by the newly founded Real Academia de S Fernando in Madrid with such biblical drawings as Lot and his Daughters (Madrid, Real Acad. S Fernando). He was in Italy on a scholarship from 1757 to 1765, working in Rome with Francisco Preciado de la Vega. In 1764, just before returning to Spain, he visited Naples to study the Roman paintings at Herculaneum in the company of the architect Juan de Villanueva.

• Castillo, José del
  • Spain, §III, 4(i): Painting and graphic arts, c 1750–c 1900: Growth of Neo-classicism & Romanticism
  • collaboration
    • Giaquinto, Corrado, §1(iv): Spain, 1753–62
  • patrons and collectors
    • Carraquiri, Nazario
    • Floridablanca
  • reproductions in tapestry
    • Escorial, §3: Decoration
  • sponsors
    • Carvajal y Lancaster, José de
  • works
    • Book illustration, §III: 18th century
    • Bourbon, §II: (4) Charles III, King of Spain